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Anne Parsons

President and CEO, Detroit Symphony Orchestra

By Cassandra Spratling

Career ladder: A musician since fourth grade when she took up the flute, Parsons, 58, earned a bachelor's degree from Smith College in Massachusetts. Prior to becoming president of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2004 and president and CEO in 2010, she was general manager of the New York City Ballet, general manager of the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, orchestra manager of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and held several posts with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Recently, she completed a McGregor Fund Eugene A. Miller Fellowship which allowed her to take a sabbatical, travel and re-charge.

Power metrics: The DSO and the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center host 335 events per year, including 58 classical concerts, 80 Detroit Public Theatre concerts, 50 church services, 28 neighborhood and seven summer concerts. It has a $27.83 million budget and employs 149 full-time and 87 part-time employees.

Special skill: "I value relationships. People are what make any organization sing."

Big win: Parsons led the orchestra through a turbulent strike in 2011 and is proud of the new "outward thinking and outward behaving culture" that developed after the strike was settled. "We've been able to serve people through music in more and new incredible ways." The DSO, musicians and staff, have developed a strong, caring, productive and innovative organization.

Power lesson: "Question what you do and how you do it. ... If we're constantly questioning ourselves, we will stay ahead. ... There's no time in your life to be complacent. There's no time for patting yourself on the back as my friend Leonard (Slatkin, DSO music director) likes to say. We have to always think about what we're about to do for everyone, not what we just did for anyone."

Surprising fact: "My husband and I got married in our jeans with red sneakers on and white T-shirts with about 10 to 12 people in upstate New York, in a cabin which has been the only constant in my life. I've lived a lot of places and traveled all over the world, but the place where I am most happy is at that cabin, when I've got my feet in the sand or on the grass looking out at the lake, looking for the loons and looking for the stars at night."

Best gift ever: The sabbatical made possible by the fellowship. "It gave me a chance to think about my life and what makes me happy and what makes me tick, and what's next in terms of how I can better serve the organization."

When not listening to the DSO: I listen to jazz, Canadian Broadcasting (89.9 FM), Michigan Public Radio, a lot of different stations. CBC keeps me in touch with popular music. My favorite in the pop world is Sting.

Boards /community activities: Cultural Alliance of Southeast Michigan; Midtown Detroit Inc.; New Detroit; and Friends of the Detroit School of the Arts. Nationally, she serves on the board of the League of American Orchestras, the advisory board for the Sphinx Organization and board of overseers for the Curtis Institute of Music.

What's next: "Personally, my husband and I recently moved into a loft in the Eastern Market that we're fixing up. For the DSO, finding a pathway toward more stability and sustainability. "We break even every year ... we've got to develop endowments that impact growth. That can only happen with collaboration."

Quote: "You learn from what you see as good, and you learn from what you see as something that you would rather be different."

How you assist other women in your company, in your community and in the world: "I mentor young women through a program called Women of Tomorrow at Cody High School in Detroit. ... I encourage young women to believe in themselves and to believe they can be what they want. ... Cut through the noise that says you can't." She also helped develop and promote an annual competition that recognizes a female composer annually. "Women composers have not been prominently presented and supported."

The new study by Grand Valley State University of Fortune 500 boards shows a correlation between board diversity and healthier profits, and Michigan companies have ample opportunity to improve board diversity, the study's co-author says.

In an effort to boost women's representation on for-profit corporate boards, Crain's Detroit Business on Tuesday night launched the Michigan Women's Directory. The launch coincided with the 100 Most Influential Women in Michigan recognition event that was attended by about 700 people.